Banished
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: A dark secret is revealed that threatens the legitimacy of the Princess. Will the monarchy of Arendelle survive? Read on, and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Half

**Chapter 1: Half **

The Prime Minister curiously studied the raggedy old peasant man seated across the desk from him. Then his eyes flitted down to the piece of parchment and handkerchief which this peasant had just placed before him - both articles bearing the royal family's seal. And the signature of the Queen Mother, the late Queen Iduna...

"Do I have your attention now, sir?" the peasant asked calmly.

The Prime Minister cleared his throat to hide the flustered state in which he now found himself. "Most definitely now. Though you had it when you demanded to speak with me regarding a matter of national security."

"And that it pertained to the Princess," the peasant reminded him. "I only wish for the truth to be known."

"And it shall be conveyed, sir. To the royal family," the Prime Minister promised. "This kingdom extends to you its deepest thanks. Dismissed."

Guards posted outside the Prime Minister's office escorted the peasant away. Meanwhile, he tucked the letter and handkerchief inside his robes. This information would be of most interest to Queen Elsa...

And in fact, changed the course of Arendelle's history.

* * *

"There can be no debate!" the Prime Minister declared. "These articles offer compelling proof that throws the paternity of the Princess Anna into question. She is not fully of royal blood and must therefore no longer be harbored within the walls of this castle!"

The rest of Queen Elsa's Council took up the call in agreement, even as their Queen sat at the head of the table, looking devastated and broken. But the exhibits of evidence did not lie, it seemed. Both bore the royal family seal - at least, as it was printed in the old days, during the reign of King Agnarr and Queen Iduna. Stricken with grief, Elsa rose to address her Council. She would not beg - as the monarch, that was below her. But she could respectfully request mercy.

"Prime Minister, Anna and I share the same mother. She was born from the loins of the Queen Mother. At the very least, she is half-royal and should be honored as such. Can we not just let this technicality go? Deliver to her the truth, if you must, but at least let Anna stay here in the palace with me!"

The Prime Minister's expression was solemn and grave. "I am sorry, my Queen, that is not possible. Half-royal though she may be, Anna still possesses commoner blood in her veins. Besides, her heritage has arisen in her desire to consort with peasants; even now, she allows into her bed the Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer - a lowly backwoodsman!"

Elsa frowned. "My sister knows the ways of her own heart. Why should her romantic relationship matter to this?"

"Because it somewhat explains her heritage!" the Prime Minister insisted. "Anna cannot be trusted as a heartbeat away from the throne! As its heir!"

An icy chill settled over the room. "I should charge you with treason for that," Elsa snarled.

The Prime Minister stood firm. "Censure me if you must, Your Majesty, but should you do so, I will let this development be known far and wide. Princess Anna must be banished. If you refuse to obey the law, then this secret will be leaked!"

Blackmailed. By her own Council. Elsa was trapped, and she knew it. Eyes swimming with tears, she forced her head to nod.

"Very well. See to it that Anna is given the most comfortable arrangements and transportation for her... her departure."

The Prime Minister dipped his head. "As my Queen commands."

* * *

It was later that evening that Elsa found herself in her chambers, in the fetal position and rolling around in tears of agony. She felt sick - physically sick. Dizzy and nauseous. Anguished - that her sister was being ripped from her arms.

"Ha, banished?" she wailed. "Be merciful, say death, for death cannot be worse than this. If the Council were merciful, they would let Anna and I die in peace, in blissful ignorance of our origins! Ah, gods above, have pity on me! Have pity on us both!"

From across the room, Kristoff was watching his Queen drown herself in her own misery, trying and failing to find the right words to say to ease her suffering. No words in any language could calm the Queen.

Yet the Arendelle Ice Master and Deliverer attempted to do so anyway. "Anna won't be alone," he promised. "I will follow her wherever she may go." An idea sprang into his head. "I could take her to my troll family and have them care for her."

"Oh, Kristoff, thank Arendelle for you!" Elsa threw her arms around him and broke down completely, even daring to kiss him on the cheek through strangled breaths. Kristoff awkwardly patted her back; it was all he could do to comfort her.

* * *

Kristoff eventually managed to convince the Queen to settle down to sleep, departing from her chambers as the sun was setting. He had not gone very far down the hall when he saw a familiar redhead collapsed below a portrait of Joan of Arc, head in her arms and sobbing.

Kristoff gazed down sadly at the love of his life, as he thought of the terrible fate that had befallen her. Wordlessly, he knelt at Anna's side and drew a protective arm around her shoulder, silently helping her to her feet.

Anna hiccuped down a sob and finally willed herself to look at her lover, her eyes puffy and red. "Kristoff..." she whispered brokenly. "If I'm not the Princess of Arendelle, if I'm not Elsa's sister, then... who am I?"

Kristoff thanked his normally empty head for sending him the right words to say in that moment. "You are the quirkiest, funniest, kindest, most beautiful woman I've ever known. And no matter what _anybody_ says... you'll always be a princess to me. Anna..." And overcome with love, Kristoff yanked her into his arms and kissed her. _Hard_.

Anna let out a startled squeak into his mouth, before eventually closing her eyes in acceptance. Swooning, she draped her arms about Kristoff's neck and deepened the kiss. In the years she had know him, never had Anna seen Kristoff be this... passionate. He had never kissed her like this, never...

The couple eventually found themselves pressed up against the Joan of Arc portrait, kissing desperately. They broke apart minutes later, gasping.

"I love you," Kristoff got out helplessly.

A dazed Anna nodded. "I know. I love you too."

* * *

It was deep night out in the palace courtyard. Sven was hitched up to his sled, which Kristoff was now waiting besides. Heart breaking, he watched as Elsa and Anna tearfully clutched at each other, hugging goodbye.

"You will _always_ be my sister, and I will _always_ love you!" Elsa wept. She gently kissed Anna on her forehead. "May God watch over you, my dear."

Anna nodded in thanks. "Please don't forget me."

Elsa was agog. "_Forget_ you? Everything I am is _because_ of you!"

"We've gotta go," Kristoff called to the sisters gently.

Anna and Elsa willed their feet to move to the sleigh, and Kristoff offered his hand, helping Anna in. Turning back to Elsa, he was startled to find her fixing him with a firm stare of warning.

"Now you listen to me, reindeer man... you be true and faithful to that girl. As long as you are with her, the happier she will be, and the safer I shall sleep. Into your hands I deliver my greatest treasure, and my trust. Do not break either one."

Kristoff bowed low in understanding. "I will not fail you, Your Majesty."

"Good," Elsa tilted her head in acknowledgment. "See that you don't." Then, unexpectedly, she wrapped him in a hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Godspeed."

Kristoff mounted the sleigh, and clicked the reins. "Sven: go. Hi-yah!" And as the runners gathered speed along the cobblestones, Anna allowed herself a final glance back, keeping her eyes on Elsa until the last.


	2. Chapter 2: Out of Eden

**Chapter 2: Out of Eden**

Anna could not stop crying all their way up the mountain. Kristoff held her throughout the journey, doing his best to comfort her though he couldn't even begin to know how. It was still deep night when Sven and the sled pulled up to the hot springs encampment where Kristoff's troll family lived. The trolls' enthusiastic greeting quickly died down when they saw the state that Anna was in.

"Kristoff? Is everything all right? Why didn't you tell us you were coming?" Bulda asked. Kristoff didn't answer, approaching Grand Pabbie and the pair talked in low tones. At last, the troll chieftain led Kristoff away. "Come with me, son, so we can discuss this more privately."

"Of course." To Bulda, he threw over his shoulder, "Look after her, Mother!" This Bulda did, gathering Anna into a hug.

"What's wrong, child?"

By the time Kristoff and Grand Pabbie returned, the whole community had heard the shattering news. Bulda looked slightly less distressed than Anna. "Surely the Queen wouldn't stand for this?" she asked of Kristoff.

"Oh, she doesn't, but she can't go against her Council without looking like a dictator. The monarchy is powerful, but not all-powerful." Kristoff's voice was bitter. He turned back to gaze at Anna, now seated on the edge of the sleigh. Her sobs had subsided into sniffles which was encouraging, but Kristoff's heart broke to see how sad and lost she still looked.

"What... what will happen to me now?" Anna sounded like a small child.

Kristoff's gaze softened, and he crossed to the sled, kneeling before her. "You'll stay with me," he promised. "I'll take care of you. Anna..." And before he could fully think through what he was saying, the words he had been wanting to say for a long time tumbled out. "Will you marry me?"

Anna's mouth dropped open, her eyes raising from her lap to gaze at him in wonder. Behind Kristoff, he could hear his family working themselves up into a tizzy, but he ignored them. Pushy as they could be, no ceremony would go forward unless Anna wanted it.

And then, in a whisper, he heard Anna reply, "Yes, I will."

The trolls shrieked assent and scrambled to dress Anna and attend to her for the ceremony they had always wanted, in some of the same clothes they had clothed her in for the almost-ceremony they attempted to conduct during the Great Freeze. Kristoff, meanwhile, allowed himself to be led away to similar regalia, but not before he had directed some of his troll brothers to a set of items stowed away in his sled.

* * *

The sky was barely awake, just grey, when Kristoff and Anna stood under a canopy of rocks, adorned in wedding garb fashioned from the earth. Though she was sad and still scared, Anna figured that if she must begin a new, humbler life, there was no one she would rather share it with than Kristoff.

The couple exchanged vows, and Grand Pabbie blessed them. Hesitantly, Anna leaned in and allowed Kristoff to touch his lips to hers in a tender, tentative kiss. There was something almost forbidden, about getting married in the wilderness, but Anna knew that if her... husband had lived off the land, then so could she.

As the newlyweds made to exit the small pit in which their wedding had been conducted, Kristoff stopped her. "Hold on - old Arendellian custom. Carry the bride across the threshold."

"Kristoff!" Anna laughed for the first time in... forever, it seemed, as her groom swept her off her feet and carried her to the edge of the clearing. Down a slight embankment, a cave was naturally carved into the earth, a slab of driftwood placed over the entrance.

"Do you like this place? I built it for us," Kristoff smiled to his bride. That he had done so in not even a night gave him great pride. Curiously, Anna turned back the driftwood and entered. The place was simple in its furnishings, most of them all-natural. A bed of leaves and pine straw served as the bridal four-poster; piles of goose-feather were their pillows. Off to one side, there was a decent hole in the rock, which served as a window.

"And look here:" Kristoff directed. Pulling on a long vine lashed to one wall, he began to tug until Anna felt warm moonlight bathe her. Glancing up, she saw that a cover of leaves and sticks was being lifted to reveal a natural skylight in the cave's roof. Gaping, Anna felt herself rest back until she was lying down on the bed of leaves. Kristoff settled down beside her.

"Now we can lie here and look at the stars," he smiled. He seemed to have thought this through, his eyes hopeful, and Anna couldn't help but wonder if this had been a dream of his - one that now, albeit through the worst of circumstances, he got to realize. A dream in which he could care for her and be with her. Glancing about her, Anna had to admit, this could be home. At least until she saw what was adorning the "window" of the cave. Sighing, she rose from her and Kristoff's "bed" and crossed to them. Kristoff sat up on his elbows, his eyes following her.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"These curtains don't belong here," Anna admonished almost casually, though she could not conceal the crack in her voice.

"Why... they're from your private residence in the palace! We thought you'd like them!" Kristoff protested. He crossed to her, a hand on her shoulder causing Anna to spin around, tears in her eyes.

"It's so wonderful, I don't deserve it! Oh, Kristoff..." And she melted into his arms.

* * *

It was several mornings later when Kristoff found himself awakening in the nearly empty ballroom of Elsa's Ice Palace. Though he and Anna had been tempted to stay forever in the little furnished cave at the Trolls' Hot Springs, Kristoff knew better than to turn down Elsa's generous offer to make use of her Ice Palace. Besides, Marshmallow was a fine host. The couple had eventually agreed that they would split time between the two homes.

Kristoff and Anna had arrived to the Ice Palace just the night before, by way of Sven. Anna had insisted they settle down to sleep under a threadbare blanket in the palace ballroom - the very same place where her heart had been accidentally frozen by her sister. Though Kristoff hadn't initially seen the logic in this, he figured that perhaps it was Anna's way to be close to Elsa.

Now, the backwoodsman found himself gazing down at his wife, slumbering in peaceful sleep - the most peaceful he had seen from her since being cast out of the palace. Gently, Kristoff dared to kiss Anna's cheek, murmur softly in her ear, "I love you."

Anna stirred with a tiny groan, but did not wake. Disentangling himself from the threadbare blanket and her arms, Kristoff rose and crossed to the balcony beyond.

From here, he got a fine view of the Arendellian mountains, now being caressed by the sun rising in the east. Its light washed over Kristoff like an orange glow, and for the first time in at least a week, he felt hope. Hope that he and Anna could make a life together. Hope that she could come to terms with herself and find an identity beyond the one she had known as a Princess. And that hope caused a tentative smile to spread on Kristoff's face, as he began softly singing a tune that his mother Bulda had taught to him:

_"Morning glow, morning glow starts to glimmer when you know / Winds of change are set to blow and sweep this whole land through. Morning glow is long past due. / Morning glow, fill the earth. Come and shine for all you're worth. We'll be present at the birth of old faith looking new. Morning glow is long past due. Oh, morning glow! I'd like to help you grow. We should have started long ago... sooooo morning glow, all day long while we sing tomorrow's song. Never knew we could be so strong, but now it's very clear. Morning glow is almost here. / Morning glow, by your light, we can make the new day bright, and the phantoms of the night will fade into the past. Morning glow is here at laaaaaaast!" _

* * *

Months passed. It was with surprise and a little wariness that Kristoff watched as Anna's belly grew steadily rounder. That she could no longer go through a night in the Ice Palace without shivering.

Desperate, Kristoff raced them both back to their little cave at the Trolls' Hot Springs. Deep inside their natural burrow, Anna grew more and more fatigued and fell into more and more pain. It all came to a head one night as Kristoff and the trolls watched her clutching her stomach in agony, struggling through a round of contractions. Grand Pabbie lay a comforting but firm hand on Kristoff's shoulder.

"She needs more than we can give her. I'm sorry, Kristoff. It's time for you to go home."

Kristoff stared at his father. "This _is_ our home!"

Grand Pabbie's eyes were sad and sympathetic but firm. "You must return her to the kingdom." And both he and Kristoff thought back to another night when Anna had to be spirited away, while her life was in danger.

But Kristoff was not convinced that Arendelle could save Anna this time. "The Council would never let us in."

"No," Grand Pabbie conceded. "But the Queen might. You still curry favor with her."

"But -"

"This is your _wife_, boy!" Grand Pabbie snapped, shouted at him. "You know what you have to do, now do it!"

Kristoff gaped. He could only count on less than two hands the number of times Grand Pabbie had called him '_boy_' - a sign of the chieftain's displeasure. His scared eyes sought out Anna, who fixed him with the most gentle smile she could muster. She was letting her husband know it was all right.

"Go," she murmured gently.

Kristoff gazed at her, pained. Then, bending over her, he kissed her goodbye fiercely, before exiting the cave. A single glance to Grand Pabbie, begging him to take care of Anna. Then, Kristoff strode with purpose up to Sven and readied his old reindeer friend.

"All right, Sven - let's see how fast you can _run_!" Sven took off like a bullet, thundering down the mountain and into the foothills. Along the way, Kristoff sent up a silent prayer to the gods and especially to the mortal who commanded the powers of one down here on Earth below.

_Hang on, Elsa, we're coming. Please, Elsa... help us... _


	3. Chapter 3: Come Home

**Chapter 3: Come Home**

It was a soldier posted on the parapet who alerted the palace of a rider approaching, fast and hard on a reindeer. Immediately, the order was given from the Queen herself to open up the gates and admit the travelers. Sven had run until his poor heart nearly gave out, pounding the final leg into the castle courtyard. Kristoff dismounted, leaping from his ride's back as Elsa rushed from the palace to throw her arms around him.

"Ah, news from the hill country. What says Marshmallow? Is Grand Pabbie well? How fares my Anna? I'll ask again, for nothing can be bad if she is well."

Kristoff plastered a smile to his face. "Then she is well and nothing can be bad. We should all be so fortunate." He cleared his throat, suddenly unable to hide the truth from his sister-in-law. "My wife is... laden, heavy with child. The little one is making her presence known, expected to bring tidings with her arrival soon. But... it is not clear whether Anna will live through the pains of labor."

Elsa's eyes were wide, frightened. Her alabaster skin was even more pale. "You are married? And she is... pregnant?" Kristoff nodded gravely. Elsa laughed weakly and glanced to the heavens. No mirth was in her voice.

"The stars are jealous that one so perfect dared to rule o'er them." And then, all at once, she let out a strangled cry, followed by a blast of ice that obliterated a nearby merchant's cart. Sven snorted nervously. "Then I defy you, stars!" Elsa screamed. "Go, Kristoff, get thee gone! Find Anna and bring her to me!"

Despite his heart alighting with hope, Kristoff was still wary. "I beseech you, my sister - Your Majesty... the Council..."

"The Council can go to hell!" Elsa snapped back at him, seething as she spun back to face him. "Hurry!"

Kristoff leapt back onto Sven, bowed gratefully to his Queen, and galloped away.

* * *

Sven made it back to the trolls with all deliberate speed, barely having time to catch his breath as Kristoff gathered Anna into his arms, before he was bearing his master and his mistress back to Arendelle. Throughout the journey, Kristoff did everything he could to get his wife's mind off the pain: singing to her the Ballad of Flemmingrad, reciting to her the story of her 19th Birthday when Elsa came down with - of all things! - a cold. It was deep night, with a clear sky full of stars, when the trio arrived back at the palace, Elsa waiting for them and backlit by the warm lights of the castle. The Queen raced into the courtyard as Kristoff dismounted, Anna cradled in his arms.

"I'm sorry... " Anna apologized, weeping, as Elsa finished kissing her and caressing her. "I left you. I didn't want to..."

"You never left me. Not where it mattered most," Elsa promised, pointing to her heart. She gestured towards the warmth of the castle. "This way." She guided her family into the Great Hall, where they were met by the Prime Minister.

"Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this? What do you mean by taking in peasantfolk off the streets?"

"This is not a peasant!" Elsa retorted. "It is the Princess, and she is due with child!"

The Prime Minister looked down at a shivering and moaning Anna blankly, apathetically. "Princess? This kingdom has no princess."

He should not have made such a statement, for in the next instant, Elsa had conjured an icicle the size of her arm and was now brandishing it like a sword under the Prime Minister's throat.

"Unfeeling, insolent wretch! You dare to deny your princess to me? _Me_? She has royal blood in her veins. Have my chambermaids attend to her _now_!"

Elsa put up Anna and Kristoff in her private chambers, her own servants flitting about preparing for Anna to go into childbirth. No one dared to cross their Queen or her commands. Elsa contented herself with holding Anna in her arms, stroking her head and murmuring sweet nothings in her ear. Anna lay on her sister's bed, her head in Kristoff's lap. The contractions came faster and faster, the midwife instructed her to push and she bore down, keeping her husband and her sister within her grip and sights.

"I... I love you!" Anna sobbed to both of them, and then with a final wrenching scream, she gave a mighty heave and felt the crowning baby slide out of her. The midwives whisked it away to clean it up. Anna settled back into the bedclothes and pillows, panting. Exhausted... but alive.

Kissing Anna's forehead, Elsa beckoned Kai, her Chief of Staff, forward. "Tell my Council to meet me in the hall outside my chambers."

"Yes, Your Grace."

Elsa kissed each of her family in turn, including her newborn niece, promising to return to them soon. Then she strode with purpose out into the hall, where her Council was waiting with trepidation.

"I am placing this family in my care hereafter," Elsa calmly informed them.

The Prime Minister was aghast. "They are peasants!"

"Anna and I share the same mother. She is my sister," Elsa said firmly.

"_Half_-sister," the Prime Minister qualified.

Elsa jutted out her chin in defiance. "_Sister_. We were raised together, in this castle, and I love her. I am the Queen. My word is law. Are we clear?" No response. "I am the Queen, and I asked you if we're clear!"

"Crystal," the Council murmured in unison.

Satisfied, Elsa swept back into her chambers. Stooping over the fireplace, she took out two items stolen from the Prime Minister's office; lighting a candle flame to them both, she watched them burn...

* * *

The sky was overcast as Elsa watched the bodies swaying from the gallows, the ropes creaking in the chilled winter breeze.

After purposefully leaking that the Council had turned against Princess Anna and cast her out in banishment, the kingdom's people had gone into an uproar, demanding justice. A failed coup d'état was the reason for such cruelty, it was claimed. No further details regarding the Council's treason were given, and so great was the people's rage that they did not ask for them. The trials were over and done with quickly: convicted of treason by putting a pregnant royal and thus the monarchy in jeapordy, the Council was sentenced to death.

Days before the execution, Elsa received word from the Captain of the Guard that a certain peasant had been found dead. A fire was ruled as the cause, it was said.

And when the birth of the little princess was announced soon thereafter, Arendelle rejoiced, for their persecuted Princess had returned and borne them an heir.

No one ever did discover the secret that had instigated such treachery...


End file.
